~ Stories and reflections

Monthly Archives: April 2013

I am going to a funeral on Wednesday 17th. The funeral of an old lady, who was one of the good people in my life. She was the best. When I was young and unhappy, she gave me hope, and kindness. She took care of me when my parents could not. From her I learnt to be cheerful, to be helpful, to be charitable. She would never condemn. Any misdemeanour would be met with a few gentle words of regret, and a hope soon expressed that there would be an improvement. She could always find the good in anyone.
The kindness she extended to me was but a tiny fragment of all the kindnesses she did to everyone around her. For years, she and her husband supported their local Methodist Church, running a successful lunch club for the elderly, cooking, washing up, and giving their neighbours friendship and company. They supported many charities, and in 2001, protested at the G8 summit in Genoa against third world debt. To her, worth in life was found not in financial success, but in service to others.
Her funeral service is the same day as that of Margaret Thatcher. While the wealthy and powerful in their thousands assemble for their state occasion, we will congregate at the Methodist Church. We will sit on the comfortable padded seats, which are there because she and her husband helped raise the money for them. I will pray for my dear friend. I will pray, as any Christian should, for the soul of Margaret Thatcher. And I will pray that the bitter spirit of monetarism is lifted from this land, and we can all remember again what joy there is in kindness.